Ellisville Harbor State Park

Ellisville Harbor is a state park located along the southern coast of Plymouth, not far from Sandwich and the Cape Cod Canal. Previously a farm owned by the Ellis and Harlow families, the place largely consists of overgrown fields where crops may have been planted. The old salt marsh remains, connected to the waters of Cape Cod Bay by a narrow inlet. The bluff that was once the site of the farm and homestead gives way to a steep hill, leading down to a beach with broad views of the Southeastern side of Cape Cod Bay. Steep sand dunes line the shore here and continue South down the coast.

Below, a panoramic view of the salt marsh, sand dune and beach of Ellisville:

It is said that this place was a fishing and hunting grounds for Native Americans for thousands of years. However, the inlet is said to have only formed in the 1700s, when it was presumably broken open in a storm. Henry David Thoreau documented a night’s stay at the Ellis Farm when in transit to Cape Cod….that was in June 1857.